Rendition report exposes Government - De Rossa

The Government's has not met its obligations in relation to the monitoring of US flights in and out of Shannon, Labour party MEP Proinsias De Rossa claimed today.

Mr De Rossa said the Government's dismissive response to yesterday's Council of Europe report into the flights will be highlighted in the European Parliament.

Speaking at a public forum on "extraordinary rendition" in Dublin this morning, he said that the report made clear that "Ireland has been negligent in meeting its obligations... its international obligations."

Council of Europe investigator Dick Marty of Switzerland gestures at a news conference in Paris.

Swiss Senator Dick Marty published his report into the flights yesterday and found that Ireland was one of 14 countries that colluded with the CIA in operating the flights, which are effectively the illegal transportation of people across to Europe.

However, Mr Marty stressed to The Irish Timesthat "Shannon (Airport) is involved in an indirect fashion.

"Planes landed at Shannon after rendition operations, when they no longer had detainees on board." He did add that the Government blindly accepted US assurances rather than investigated the role of aircraft.

Mr De Rossa claims this was "not good enough" and has called for an investigation into the matter of the State being "used by the CIA."

Mr Marty said most European governments did not seem particularly eager to establish the facts.

Earlier, Foreign Affairs Minister Dermot Ahern, said there was no new evidence produced in the report.

"The only new real reference in the report to Ireland was that it listed Ireland along with a number of other states that 'could be held responsible for collusion'.

"There is absolutely no question of us having colluded with the CIA or the US authorities," the minister added.

At today's forum organised by the Labour Party in Dublin's European Parliament Office, Fiona Crowley, from Amnesty International Ireland, said the report had serious implications for the Government.

"His report echoes very much representations that Amnesty has been repeatedly making to the Irish Government," she said. "It is simply avoiding its international human rights responsibilities in refusing to investigate allegations that renditions aircraft have landed at Shannon or have been permitted to cross Irish airspace or to take measures to prevent such acts in future."

Michael Farrell from the Human Rights Commission said they had urged the Government to undertake

urgent steps to rectify the major gaps in policies in respect of rendition.

Michael D Higgins, Labour's spokesman on Foreign Affairs, said the Government's acceptance of US assurances that planes passing through Shannon airport were not involved in rendition has cost the state its "credibility" in relation to human rights.

"It is absurd to say that you can in fact honour your obligations in international law on such an important matter as the Convention Against Torture by accepting an assurance," he said.

Mr Higgins said the political will appears to be missing to have inspections carried out on the planes landing at Shannon Airport.

"We have lost credibility seriously in relation to our reputation for human rights law through the conventions," he concluded.